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THE WEDDING OF THE YEAR AND THE STATEMENTS MADE

If you missed the wedding of the year, Candice shares a little recap and her thoughts on this momentous day and its social and economic influences on Britain.

It’s almost wedding season, and what better way to start it off than with a Royal Wedding? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, tied the knot on the 19th of May inside the beautifully decorated St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Over 100,000 people lined the streets around the castle to catch a glimpse of this magical, fairytale-like moment and congratulate the love birds. Many traveled from all over the world to be a part of the ceremony, but this wasn’t your typical royal wedding. With minor yet praiseworthy tweaks made to fit the more modern times, this is one wedding for the history books.

The Issues

Let’s start with one of the most controversial and major “issues.” Meghan is a divorced, biracial actress from America, but she owns it! With a Caucasian father and African-American mother, many criticised Meghan for her race and even went as far as to say that her addition to the royal family would “taint” it. A woman of colour has been a taboo for such a long time dating back to the slave era. Deemed as undesirable and impure, divorced women were also not considered ideal wedding partners because of their seemingly tumultuous past.

But Meghan essentially broke all of these outdated social stereotypes in one sweep. During the ceremony itself, Meghan confidently went through half of the processional on her own. Although this was because of her father, Thomas Markle, being unable to attend the wedding due to health reasons, it left a resonating impression and statement.

When she later joined up with Prince Charles during the latter half of the processional, he stepped behind her instead of “giving her away” to Prince Harry. She also didn’t vow to “obey” Prince Harry, which was of no surprise as the new Duchess is an avid supporter of gender equality and a UN women’s advocate. These might seem like minor details, but it leaves a lasting positive influence on girls of younger generations.

Born in Los Angeles, California, she’s also the first American since 1937 to be married into the royal family, which I think is awesome as an American and a Californian myself. My childhood dreams of being a badass princess aren’t completely out of the window. “I’m really just proud of who I am and where I come from,” said the Duchess of Sussex. She’s different, and she’s also outspoken and proud of it, which is what we and the infatuated prince love about her!

The Looks

Let’s move onto the aesthetics of the wedding. Simplicity is the perfect word to describe the wedding but in the best possible way. With her prominent freckles on full display and her simple, sophisticated Givenchy dress designed by Clare Waight Keller, who was appointed the first female artistic director of the French fashion house, Meghan went with the less is more approach. Some criticised her simplicity as a lack of effort, but it worked for her.

A wedding dress, in my humble opinion, is supposed to accentuate and enhance the bride and not take the spotlight away. The boat-neckline, off-shoulder, and ¾ sleeved dress did just that with a modern and elegant look, which truly reflected Meghan’s own character and values. She also wore a beautifully-made bespoke lily-white and high-neck Stella McCartney dress for the evening reception at Frogmore house.

Her veil had the flowers of the 53 commonwealth countries, as well as the California Poppy, hand-embroidered in with the beautiful lace adding that touch of delicacy, and her almost no-makeup look accentuated her natural beauty. The wedding bouquet with hand-picked flowers from Prince Harry also paid homage the late Princess Diana and the Queen herself. Every detail was intentional, and the intention was to support and reflect Meghan Markle’s charm and beauty.

The Budget

Now, onto the finicky and most stressful aspect of any wedding: the financials. This was definitely not a cheap affair. Almost all of the royal weddings were expensive, but this wedding’s price point was high for a different reason.

Meghan’s dress and ring are estimated at £640,000, and the flowers used were around £110,000. With the high threat of recent terrorism in the past year, over 3,000 police officers were deployed among the crowds to protect the couple, which was worth another £30 million on its own. This all adds up to around £30,750,000, which is around £7 million more than Prince William and Princess Kate’s wedding. They only spent around £22 million on security.

Although the royal family is paying for parts of the wedding, taxpayer’s money is also going into this enormous bill, which many are not ecstatic about. The flip side to this is that the wedding is expected to generate around £500 million for the British economy. This is due to tourism and the free marketing provided by the wedding. People travelled from all parts of the world to celebrate this momentous day, which meant spending money on hotels, travel costs, parties, and British goods.

As Meghan is also an established and notable actress from America, her presence and influence reaches across the Atlantic Ocean, bringing fans over to congratulate her while increasing Britain’s revenue.

As the non-stereotypical British royal, Meghan Markle is definitely millions of girls’ ideal princess. Making marks in history, her wedding with Prince Harry was well-received and celebrated by all, with the few exceptions of those who just aren’t caught up with the modern times.

What did you think of the wedding? Did your heart feel as warmed as mine did? Leave us your thoughts by commenting or messaging us on our social media platforms listed on the last page of the issue.

You can see more of Candice’s work on Instagram by following @Candice_x9.